Canada taking steps to deal with Zika virus

Such is the level of alarm that many American countries like El Salvador, Colombia and Ecuador have urged women to postpone pregnancy till 2018.

The World Health Organization predicts there could be up to four million cases over the next year.

Texas has reported two confirmed travel-related cases of Zika virus disease in the state, both in the southeast Texas area.

The Federal Ministry of Health in Nigeria has issued a travel restriction to Latin America, especially by pregnant women until the Zika Virus outbreak situation improves.

Brazil is losing the battle against the mosquito spreading the Zika virus, President Dilma Roussef said, calling for a national effort to eradicate the insect.

Though the mosquitoes that transmit the virus don’t exist in Canada, travelers heading south to the Americas or South Pacific could be exposed. In Brazil, an outbreak of Zika cases in expectant mothers over the last several months has coincided with almost 4,000 potential cases of microcephaly, which is a congenital condition associated with incomplete brain development. But the risk is far greater for pregnant women because of a possible link to a birth defect and neurological problems.

Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon and fatalities are rare. Now, local healthcare professionals are getting together a plan to contain the virus if it’s found here.

Dr Lokman was quoted as saying that the risks were high for Malaysians because they had no immunity to the Zika virus, making it likely that the disease could spread very quickly.

Health Ministry’s deputy DG for public health says five preventive and precautionary measures have been suggested. “It tends to be fever, red eyes, a rash and joint pain”. But there’s only been one reported case in our region, and that was in a returning traveler.

Three blood samples from SC have been sent to the CDC to test for the Zika virus, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.